Netflix doesn’t always put a ton of budget behind its original projects, but one definite exception seems to be its new 2025 release The Waterfront. The show has pretty much everything one would need to be a desirable series: Its cast is top-notch, it has an intriguing name and setting, and it’s unrelentingly shocking. It’s also certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but now that I'm three episodes in, I still feel like it’s missing something.

What Do You Need To Know About The Waterfront?

Briefly the top trending show, the freshman drama on Netflix is the No.2 show on the streamer at the time of this writing. Typically not holding out at No. 1 for a few weeks can be a bad sign, as Netflix is known for canceling first season shows, but these are not fair waters. In fact, The Waterfront landed on Netflix just a few days before Squid Game Season 3, and that show has just crushed the competition. So, in this case, No. 2 probably isn’t so bad.

The Waterfront also has a positive Rotten Tomatoes rating from both the critics and the audience, and while neither is the freshest rating I’ve ever seen, people seem to be on board with the drama, which follows a family dipping its toes into the criminal underworld to keep the family business afloat. It also stars former Supergirl Melissa Benoist, as well as popular Mind Hunter actor Holt McCallany, Dave Annable, and Maria Bello, who despite an Emmy nomination has been highly underrated in Hollywood (in my opinion).

It helps the show is set in a very pretty looking fictional waterfront town in North Carolina and the show itself comes from the mind of Kevin Williamson, who also wrote the original screenplay for Scream and has been involved in a variety of other successful franchises on the big and small screen (The Vampire Diaries, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Following).

On paper, this is a recipe for success, but is The Waterfront actually a binge-worthy Netflix show?

Is The Waterfront Actually Worth Watching Though?

Listen, I get that a 65% rating means people like something pretty well and not crazy well. I also understand that I am only three episodes into this eight-episode season and haven’t seen everything the new drama has to offer yet, but given the way those with a Netflix subscription have been consuming The Waterfront, I have to think people find it good enough to stick with it.

From my point of view, however, while the show is occasionally well-drawn and features some good performances, I just can’t help but have the following problems with it so far:

• The show is meant to be overly dramatic but there are also random acts of violence that are used as shock value in a way I found grossly underwhelming.
• Melissa Benoist is almost unrecognizable in this role compared to her character in Supergirl, and I don’t want to take away from her performance, at all. However, she and most of the characters in this series are deeply unlikable and I’m not really rooting for anyone.
• Something about the way this show is written irritates me. I can’t fully put a finger on it, but The Waterfront takes itself very seriously, and I think we may have been better served if it was a little fluffier, and tonally closer to something like Revenge.

I’ve been told by a coworker who has also been covering The Waterfront that things really start heating up in Episode 4, so I’m holding out hope the story starts to anchor its way in my heart. It’s true that some shows really take most of a season or a full season to get some wind under their belt. But for now, I feel a bit adrift while watching.

Stay tuned, because I'm hoping the journey to the end will be worth it.

Another week means another patch of hot streaming series and movies to watch while avoiding the summer heat. From prestige drama to wacky anime to documentaries on people you thought you knew, there’s a lot to watch on your favorite streaming platforms this week.

Sally - June 17 (Disney+)

Sally Ride (who Kristen Stewart will portray in an upcoming miniseries) was the first American woman in space, making her a pioneer in every sense of the term. The new documentary Sally will take a look at Ride’s life, including extensive interviews with Tam O’Shaughnessy, the woman with whom Ride secretly shared her life for nearly three decades.

The Waterfront - June 19 (Netflix)

Netflix’s new series, The Waterfront, has a lot of potential to become you’re next streaming obsession. It follows the Buckley family as they attempt to keep hold of their family’s former glory, and they decide that trafficking narcotics is the best way to do that. Created by Kevin Williamson, who is also returning to the horror franchise he pioneered as the director of Scream 7, the series also has an incredible cast that includes Mindhunter’s Holt McCallany, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, and more.

We Were Liars - June 19 (Prime Video)

Movies based on popular books usually draw fans but, if there’s a particular area where streaming series seem to thrive, it’s in this particular avenue. The latest adaptation of a hit book comes from E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars, the story of a young girl from a wealthy family, who revisits terrible events that happened to her one summer. If the series is a hit for those with a Prime Video subscription, there are two more where it came from.

Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical - June 20 (Disney+)

In addition to finding incredible success turning its animated hits into live-action remakes, Disney has also found success on the stage, turning many of those same films into Broadway musicals. Those people who don’t have easy access to Broadway will be able to get a chance to have the experience, however, when a recorded version of Frozen on Broadway arrives for everybody with a Disney+ subscription.

KPop Demon Hunters - June 20 (Netflix)

If you like K-pop, anime and fantasy stories about fighting monsters (and you have a Netflix subscription), this is really the best week to be you. Netflix’s new series KPop Demon Hunters is exactly what it says on the tin. A K-pop girl group fights demons, so those demons fight back by forming their own boy band.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 - June 20 (Prime Video)

Movies based on video games are finally coming into their own after years of less-than-stellar quality. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has been at the front of the wave, and with the best performance yet from Jim Carrey, and the addition of Keanu Reeves, many think Sonic the Hedgehog 3 -- which is available this week with a Prime Video subscription -- is the best so far.

Next week already has one major release lined up. The newest Marvel TV comes to Disney+ with Ironheart. For more on that, and everything else hitting streaming at the end of June, come back next week.

Netflix has come out with some awesome shows throughout its time as the streaming king. It's had hits that have taken over social media, such as Wednesday, and created swoon-worthy shows like Bridgerton, which is entering its third season, but now, it’s about to take the word “beef” to a whole new level – with Beef. 

The series, starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, tells the story of two drivers who are both going through a 'crisis’ in their lives who end up having the epitome of a road rage incident that is carried far beyond their cars. The show is made by A24, which has produced some of the best films in the last decade, such as the company's horror movies, comedies, and many others, so to see them making a TV series like this is so much fun. 

The Beef cast is similarly impressive, with names on here that I’m sure you’ve heard of more than once. Let’s get into where you’ve seen them before. 

Steven Yeun (Danny Cho)

First up on this list is Steven Yeun, who plays Danny Cho in Beef. Admittedly, I’ve been a fan of Yeun's for years, and when I say years, I mean that with my entire heart. I first discovered him on The Walking Dead, as most people did, and fell in love with his acting style. Ever since then, he’s become even more prominent on film and TV and I am here for the praise he's gotten. 

One of his most known movies so far is Minari, where he had a starring role that garnered him an Academy Award nomination, but he’s done plenty of other awesome films, as well. These include, but aren’t limited to, the Jordan Peele horror movie, Nope, Burning, The Humans, The Star, Sorry To Bother You, and Okja. 

Besides his time on The Walking Dead, Yeun is also a pretty prominent voice actor, and has done a lot of voice work for shows such as Voltron: Legendary Defender and the very popular Amazon Prime series, Invincible, which is receiving a second season soon.

Ali Wong (Amy Lau)

The next star is Ali Wong, who plays Amy Lau. Wong has been around in the entertainment industry for some time. I primarily know her as a comedian, as I’ve watched all of her Netflix specials and have laughed hilariously every time I’ve watched them, but she’s done plenty in movies and TV, as well. 

With films, she’s mainly known for her role in Always Be My Maybe, but she’s had parts in movies such as Onward, Birds of Prey, Father Figures, and Savage. On television, she was one of the main stars of Tuca & Bertie, an animated series, as well as doing voice work for shows such as Big Mouth and Human Resources, both great animated shows on Netflix for adults. 

She also had a main role in American Housewife, and a recurring role in Love, Victor on Hulu, as well as on the series, Paper Girls. 

Joseph Lee (George Nakai)

Moving on with our list, next up is Joseph Lee, who portrays George Nakai in Beef. Lee has done a couple of independent films that you might recognize him from, including Lion and Searching. Some TV shows that he’s had parts in are Star Trek: Picard, as well as the series Miracle That We Meet. Other than that, he’s pretty new to Hollywood, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him soon enough. 

Young Mazino (Paul Cho)

Another newcomer to Hollywood is Young Mazino, who plays Paul Cho in the series. The actor has primarily done guest roles on many popular shows, and these include parts in series’ such as Prodigal Son, Blue Bloods, Tommy, Blindspot, and My Crazy Love. 

He’s also had roles in the independent films Fish Bones and Vita, but his main part in Beef will be his first major role in a television show, so it’ll be awesome to see him do this.  

David Choe (Isaac Cho)

Moving on, we have David Choe, who is playing Isaac Cho. The actor is actually also an artist and a musician, but has only recently gotten into acting over the last few years. He’s had guest roles on television shows such as The Mandalorian on Disney+, which is well into its third season, as well as Better Things. 

He’s also had parts in films such as We Are The Strange, as well as Violent Blue, but it’ll be exciting to see him take on a role that’s a main part in a big show such as this. 

Patti Yasutake (Fumi Nakai)

Next up on this list, we have Patti Yasutake, a veteran in Hollywood who has been acting for more than three decades. She portrays Fumi Nakai in Beef. The actress has done plenty in television. She’s primarily known for playing Nurder Ogawa in the Star Trek franchise, where she was a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as movies that were spun off of the show. 

Besides that, she was also in TV shows such as Murder One, Dangerous Minds, Bones, Just Legal, The Closer, Cold Case, and many more. With films, she was also a part of movies like Drop Dead Gorgeous, The Coverup, The LA Riot Spectacular, The Wash and more. 

Maria Bello (Jordan Forster)

Moving on, we take a look at Maria Bello, who plays Jordan Forster. Bello has been in movies such as Duets, 100 Mile Rule, The Cooler alongside William H. Macy, The Dark, The Sisters, Towelhead, Grown Ups and its sequel, Demonic, The 5th Wave, The Water Man, Wait Till Helen Comes and others. 

She’s also appeared in several television shows, including a recurring role on ER, and shows like Prime Suspect, Goliath, Touch, NCIS and more. 

Ashley Park (Naomi Forster)

Next up, we take a look at Ashley Park, who plays Naomi Forster in Beef. Park got her start on Broadway, and had a huge role in Mean Girls: The Musical, which is getting a movie adaptation, but has since appeared in Mr. Malcolm’s List, and other smaller films. She’s set to appear in Joy Ride. She’s also part of the Emily in Paris cast, as well as being in Girls5eva on Peacock. 

Additional Cast Members

Last but not least, we have to point out a few recurring actors who are also here. Justin H. Min, who is primarily known for his role in The Umbrella Academy, plays Edwin. 

Mia Serafino, who is mainly known for the show Crowded, plays Mia, and Remy Holt (who has only been in 1923 prior to her role in Beef) plays June. Andrew Santino, who is known for his role on Dave, portrays Michael, while Rek Lee is a rapper who's just getting into acting and has a part on the series, though he has done voice work on Adventure Time before. 

With such a nice cast, Beef is sure to be a hit on Netflix. If you're all caught up and want some clarification on how things wrap up, check out our rundown of the Beef ending.

When a Stephen King adaptation goes into development with filmmakers involved who have past King adaptation experience, the result is usually worthy of anticipation. Mostly this is because second and third opportunities come about following success, but it also points to writers and directors having a passion for the source material and the work of the author.

This was part of the formula behind the development of the Lifetime movie Big Driver – based on the novella of the same name from Stephen King’s 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars.

Produced and released in a matter of months – announced in June 2014 and released in October – the producers of the TV movie hired King veterans to make it: namely Mikael Salomon, the director of the 2004 Salem’s Lot remake and two episodes of Nightmares & Dreamscapes (“The End Of The Whole Mess” and “Autopsy Room Four”; and screenwriter Richard Matheson, who adapted “Battleground,” the series premiere of Nightmares & Dreamscapes.

Unfortunately, the talent behind the camera and a cast including Maria Bello, Anne Dowd, Joan Jett, and Olympia Dukakis are unable to elevate or in any way improve what is a rote and basic rape revenge story – and perhaps the worst part of all is that there are scenes that play like awkward, cringe-y commercials for TomTom GPS devices. I explain all in this week’s Adapting Stephen King.

What “Big Driver” Is About

One will find many iterations of “worst case scenarios” by poring through the works of Stephen King, and that’s really the easiest way to sum up the origins of “Big Driver.” The author witnessed a casual encounter while going about his daily life, and his imagination went to an exceptionally dark place in the aftermath.

Those who at the very least know the back story behind Thinner are aware that King doesn’t always maintain the most nutritious eating habits, and in the Afterword of Full Dark, No Stars he recounts taking a break from a 2007 autograph tour in Massachusetts by driving into a rest stop and picking up a soda and a candy bar. After making his purchase, he noticed a long-haul trucker talking to a woman whose car had suffered a flat tire.

Stephen King asked the duo if he could help out with the situation, but the trucker dismissed him, saying, “No, no, I got this.” And though the writer uses the adjective “earnest” in describing the dynamic between the two strangers, the nightmare that could result from their meeting occurred to him while he was driving away, and he decided to write a novella about it.

The woman in King’s mind became Tess Thorne, a semi-popular mystery writer best known for creating the on-going series The Willow Grove Knitting Society. Because sales of her books aren’t exactly outrageous, she supplements her income by making appearances at book clubs and libraries, and a great opportunity drops in her lap when she is invited to speak in front of a group called Books & Brown Baggers about 60 miles from her home in Stoke Village, Connecticut.

The event goes well, she gets paid $1,500, and Ramona Norville, the President of Books & Brown Baggers, even gives her directions to plug into her TomTom GPS device that cut 10 miles off of her trip back home. Tess is in a good place as she gets on the road, but everything goes to hell when one of her tires gets spiked by a piece of scrap wood with a nail in it.

She’s left stranded in an area off of the highway with no cell reception – and is only very briefly relieved when a passing pickup truck stops and pulls up alongside her car. The giant man who emerges from the cab seems kind and helpful at first… but that’s before Tess notices that there is scrap wood in the cargo bed identical to what was on the road. Her terror is instant and justified, as the man she mentally names Big Driver knocks her unconscious and rapes her in an abandoned convenience store nearby. Once he is done, he chokes her until he thinks she is dead, and leaves her body floating in a culvert with past victims.

Tess, however, is not dead, and after regaining consciousness she carefully makes her way back home. She fears the consequences both personally and professionally that could result in her reporting her rape, but she also knows that she has a duty to get justice for the women who were assaulted before her. She begins an independent investigation both into the identity of her rapist, and the circumstances that led her to be caught in his trap.

How Mikael Salomon ’s Big Driver Differs From Stephen King’s Novella

Mikael Salomon’s Big Driver and Peter Askin’s A Good Marriage – both based on stories from Full Dark, No Stars – were released within 15 days of each other in October 2014, and both had the same benefit in adaptation: novellas are perfectly sized to fill what is recognized as “feature length.” In adapting “A Good Marriage” himself, Stephen King didn’t need to expand on the source material or cut out any sequences, and Richard Christian Matheson understood that the majority of what was needed for his teleplay was already on the page.

The two versions of the story are practically identical until the end of the first act when Tess (Maria Bello) goes to a convenience store after her escape from the culvert. In the book she is able to use bathroom facilities and a payphone without actually going into the store, but the movie puts her under the harsh fluorescents and makes her deal with stares from strangers who recognize her roughed up condition. The adaptation additionally has the protagonist call her own voicemail so that she can recount what happened to her with the events being fresh in her memory.

The middle of Mikael Salomon’s movie is also overwhelmingly familiar to audiences who know the Stephen King story, though it does cut out Tess getting a meta, pop culture-centric lesson in how to execute a rape revenge plot – research that includes watching Wes Craven’s The Last House On The Left and Neil Jordan's The Brave One. The plot progresses the same way otherwise, with the vengeance-seeking heroine discovering the identity of Big Driver (Will Harris), real name Lester Strehlke, and realizing not only that Ramona Norvell (Ann Dowd) is his mother, but that she specifically set Tess up to be raped and murdered.

The most significant changes to the source material can be found in the third act, as Richard Christian Matheson simplifies the last leg of the protagonist’s journey. In the movie, Tess shoots and kills Lester’s brother, Alvin (Andre Myette), who is smaller than his sibling, and is heartbroken to think that she killed an innocent man. This, however, is proven to be a false conclusion, as she discovers that Alvin was present when she was being raped and taking photographs of her. After taking the photos and the camera – not wanting the police to discover a link between her and the Stehlke brothers – Tess proceeds to her original target, finding Lester and killing him with a bullet to the leg and the crotch following a brief scuffle in his workshop.

Tess also shoots and kills Alvin in the novella, but it’s because she is operating under the assumption that Lester is Big Driver, when in truth he is actually smaller than Alvin. She moves on to murdering her rapist, who is on the couch watching a rerun of Seinfeld when his brains get blown out, and then she sets about planning her own suicide – unable to live with the fact that she killed an innocent person. While still in Lester’s home, she pens a suicide note that is also a full confession – but she is steered off of that course with input from her intuition. She decides to investigate Alvin’s home and finds her purse under the man’s mattress, implying that he didn’t just turn a blind eye, but was involved in the crime.

Beyond the climax, the denouement is also altered. In the novella, Tess realizes that the only person linking her to the Stehlke brothers is Betsy Neal – the employee at the Stagger Inn from whom she had learned about Big Driver and Little Driver. Tess calls Betsy and starts to leave an incriminating voicemail, but Betsy picks up the phone and asks her to meet.

This meeting between Tess and Betsy (Joan Jett) is in Mikael Salomon’s Big Driver, but it’s moved to the middle of the film when the characters first meet, and Betsy doesn’t know about what’s happened to Tess before sharing her story about being raped by her stepfather as a young girl. The movie does bring Betsy back at the very end, but it’s for a much quicker beat: Tess gets a phone call while at home, and Betsy tells her, “I know what you did, Tess. Way to go, girl,” before hanging up.

Is It Worthy Of The King?

In past installments of this feature, I’ve lauded Stephen King’s habit of nodding to the works that influence him with direct references and namedrops. In the case of Mikael Salomon’s Big Driver, however, Richard Christian Matheson made the right choice of not including a sequence where Tess does her rape revenge research, as it shines a light on the story’s biggest problem: its derivative and cheap plotting that feels overly familiar and has nothing new or interesting to say.

This opinion of Stephen King’s story covers both the novella and the adaptation, which obviously skews the “Is It Worthy Of The King?” question, but it is noteworthy that some of the movie’s more minor deviations from the source material ends up hurting the final cut.

“Big Driver” is in some ways a descent into madness story, as Tess’ mind does a fair bit of unraveling after she is attacked. This is most clearly recognizable as she starts having conversations with animals and things that can’t talk back. This includes her cat, her TomTom, the dead bodies of Lester and Alvin Strehlke, Alvin’s dog, and the fictional lead character in her books, Doreen Marquis.

This aspect of the novella is minimized in the movie. The schizophrenic behavior is introduced before Tess is attacked, suggesting that it’s just an extension of her overactive imagination. Furthermore, the number of fake conversations she has dwindles, awkwardly causing each one to stand out more. This allows more time for Tess to interact with Doreen Marquis (Olympia Dukakis), but her chats with her GPS device have the distinct vibe of a commercial for TomTom… and that’s just so, so weird given what the film’s content.

When broken down, Big Driver is a film that has weak story based on weak novella, and it’s an adaptation that minimizes the strongest narrative tool in the source material. So no, I can’t say that I recommend checking it out.

How To Watch Mikael Salomon ’s Big Driver

If you happen to be a person who watches original Lifetime programming on the regular, the Lifetime Movie Club exists, and Big Driver is one of the titles that is available to stream (you can also get a subscription linked through accounts on Amazon Prime and/or The Roku Chanel). You can rent/purchase the TV movie digitally via Amazon and Vudu, and those who are working on constructing the Ultimate Stephen King Collection will discover that it is on DVD and an inexpensive purchase.

Coming up next week, Adapting Stephen King will be moving over to the site’s Streaming section, as I will be taking a look at what was the first King project developed for a digital subscription service: the J.J. Abrams-produced adaptation of 11.22.63 on Hulu. Look for my column Wednesday, and in the meantime click through the banners below to discover all of the previous features.

There are some movies that I grew up watching and loving more and more each time I saw it. While Grown Ups wasn’t the best received Adam Sandler movie, it was one of my favorites for the sheer hilarity it offered, as well as the fun cast that it gathered to portray this funny group of friends. 

Speaking of the cast, with this movie being nearly twelve years old now (I know, I can’t believe it either), where exactly is the cast of Grown Ups now? From Adam Sandler to Salma Hayek, everyone has had their own projects and big films, while also returning to do movies and films together. Here is what the cast of Grown Ups is doing now.  

Adam Sandler (Lenny Feder)

Starting off with the main star of Grown Ups, we have Adam Sandler, who portrayed Lenny Feder. And unsurprisingly, Sandler has been up to his teeth in movies. 

For one, he was the main star of the Hotel Transylvania series, up until the 2022 movie, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. Besides his fun voice-acting skills, he’s appeared in several movies, most of which he also produced. This includes, but is not limited to Grown Ups 2, Pixels, The Ridiculousness 6, Hubie Halloween and more.  He’s also had two movie that he’s co-starred with Jennifer Aniston with, Just Go With It and Murder Mystery, which is receiving a sequel on Netflix soon. 

In addition to his numerous comedies, Adam Sandler starred in the 2019 crime thriller Uncut Gems from Josh and Benny Safdie. 

Sandler has also popped up in several TV shows, such as Kevin Can Wait, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and he guest starred on Jessie with his late Grown Ups on-screen son, Cameron Boyce.

Coming up, he has a number of movies lined up, including Murder Mystery 2,  Spaceman and Hustle.

Kevin James (Eric Lamonsoff)

Next up, we have Kevin James, who played Eric Lamansoff in Grown Ups. James has appeared in many movies, like Grown Ups 2, Zookeeper, Pixels, the Paul Blart: Mall Cop series, Sandy Wexler, Hubie Halloween and more. James also received a starring role in the Hotel Transylvania series alongside Adam Sandler. 

On television, James has had many guest roles, but two of his biggest projects were his own sitcom, titled Kevin Can Wait, as well the comedy series, The Crew. Coming up, James is going to appear in Home Team, which is being produced by Adam Sandler. 

Chris Rock (Kurt McKenzie)

Another hilarious comedian, Chris Rock played Kurt McKenzie in Grown Ups, and has been quite active in the movie industry. He has appeared in a variety of genres, showcasing his acting skills. Since the family film he's been in Grown Ups 2, What To Expect When You’re Expecting, the Madagascar series, Top Five, the Eddie Murphy-led film, Dolemite Is My Name, the 2021 horror film, Spiral: The Book of Saw, and more. 

In television, he’s guest starred on many shows, as has many of his co-stars, but one of his most notable TV roles in recent years was playing Loy Cannon on the FX series, Fargo. Rock has also had a comedy special on Netflix, titled Chris Rock: Tamborine that you should check out. 

Coming up, he’s going to be appearing in three new projects, two with titles, Rustin and I Am Maurice, and one untitled David O. Russell project, although there hasn’t been any new news about that since January 2021. 

David Spade (Marcus Higgins)

Moving on, we have former SNL star David Spade, who played Marcus Higgins in Grown Ups. Since his appearance, Spade has been active in both movies and TV. Some of his biggest roles in recent years have been appearing in the Hotel Transylvania series, Grown Ups 2, The Ridiculous 6, Sandy Wexler, Father of the Year and more. 

With television, Spade has had roles in many shows as a recurring character, including Fameless, Roadies, Rules of Engagement and more. Spade also hosted his own talk show called Lights Out with David Spade, as well as appeared several times as himself in many shows. He’s going to be in a new HBO series, but not much else is known about that just yet. 

Rob Schneider (Rob Hilliard)

Another former SNL star, Rob Schneider played Rob Hilliard in Grown Ups, and while he didn’t appear in the sequel like many of his other co-stars, he still continued to have a very successful career since the family film. With movies, he’s appeared in films such as The Outback, Wings, The Ridiculous 6, Norm of the North, Sandy Wexler, Hubie Halloween and more. 

Schneider has also been active in television, appearing in many shows such as the sitcom series, Rob, in which he starred, Real Rob, another sitcom series in which he starred, and several guest roles. He also competed on The Masked Singer in 2021. Soon, he’s also going to be making an appearance in Home Team. I’m starting to see a trend here. 

Salma Hayek (Roxanne Chase-Feder)

I think out of all the on-screen love interests Adam Sandler has had in his movies, Salma Hayek from Grown Ups, who played Roxanne, is one of my favorites thanks to her amazing personality that she adds to the movie. Since her role in Grown Ups, Hayek has continued to have a very successful career. 

She’s had roles in movies like Grown Ups 2, Here Comes the Boom, Everly, The Hitman’s Bodyguard as well as its sequel in 2021, Like A Boss, and was a part of both the Eternals cast and the House of Gucci cast, in addition to other movies. Hayek has also had some fun with television as well, with two recurring guest-star roles on both Ugly Betty and 30 Rock. 

The actress doesn’t seem to have anything coming up just yet, but I can’t wait to see what else she does after her stellar year in 2021 with both Eternals and House of Gucci. 

Maria Bello (Sally Lamonsoff)

Moving on, we have Maria Bello, who portrayed Sally Lamansoff in Grown Ups, the wife of Kevin James’ character. Since her role in the family comedy, Bello has continued to have quite the career in both movies and TV. 

In film, she’s has big roles in films like Grown Ups 2, Beautiful Boy, Abduction, McFarland USA, Prisoners alongside the lead actor, Hugh Jackman, The 5th Wave, Max Steel, Every Day, Better Start Running, The Water Man and more. Television is where Bello has shined even more. She’s had several recurring roles in shows like Touch, Prime Suspect, and Goliath, but her biggest role so far was playing Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane in NCIS, a role she left in 2021. 

Maya Rudolph (Deanne McKenzie)

Next up, SNL alum Maya Rudolph played Deanne McKenzie, the wife of Chris Rock’s character, in Grown Ups. And since her appearance in the movie, Rudolph has had quite the career. Not long after Grown Ups did she star in the Bridesmaids cast, another comedy that blew up, and she only continued to grow afterwards. 

She’s appeared in many films, including Grown Ups 2, Big Hero 6, Wine Country, The Willoughbys, Life of the Party, the Angry Birds franchise, Hubie Halloween and more. She was also a part of the Luca cast, the Mitchells vs. the Machines cast, and the Licorice Pizza cast all in 2021 - talk about a packed year. 

Rudolph has also had success in television. She’s had recurring and main roles in shows such as Up All Night, Portlandia, The Awesomes, The Good Place, Forever and more, as well as being a part of the adult animated series, Big Mouth on Netflix and having her own baking show, called Baking It. Coming up, she will be in the new Disenchanted movie, as well the Big Mouth spinoff TV series, Human Resources. 

Joyce Van Patten (Gloria Noonan)

The next cast member to talk about is Joyce Van Patten, who played Gloria Noonan in Grown Ups. Since her role in the movie, Patten has appeared in films such as Angel’s Perch, God’s Pocket and more. She’s also guest starred in several television shows like The Good Wife and Boardwalk Empire. 

Patten doesn’t have anything in the works right now, but hopefully it won’t be long before we see her on our TV or movie screens again. 

Colin Quinn (Dickie Bailey)

Next up, we have Dickie Bailey, who was played by Colin Quinn. The SNL alum has been active both in the acting world and in the writing world, having roles in both TV and film, as well as working behind the scenes. 

As an actor, Quinn has popped up in roles in movies like Grown Ups 2, Trainwreck, Sandy Wexler, Hubie Halloween and others. He’s also been active in television, having recurring roles in shows like Girls, The Awesomes, Inside Amy Schumer, and more. 

Quinn has also been very active in comedy and writing. In 2015 and 2020, he wrote two biographies titled The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America and Overstated: A Coast-to-Coast Roast of the 50 States. He’s also had several comedy specials on Netflix and HBO, and has gone on tour for his stand-up.

Steve Buscemi (Wiley)

Steve Buscemi, while he wasn’t in the film for long, had an impactful part as Wiley in Grown Ups, and has continued to succeed in Hollywood, both on the big screen and the small screen.

As well as appearing in Grown Ups 2, Buscemi has appeared in many movies such as the Pixar movie, Monsters University, On the Road, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, the Hotel Transylvania series, The Ridiculous 6, The Boss Baby, The Death of Stalin, The Dead Don’t Die, The King of Staten Island and more. 

Buscemi has also had an active career in television. Besides appearing on several TV shows, like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Buscemi has had leading roles in both Boardwalk Empire and Miracle Workers. He also hosted his own talk show called Park Bench with Steve Buscemi. Coming up, he’s going to be appearing in a new movie titled The Year Between. 

Tim Meadows (Malcolm)

Last but not least, we have another former SNL star, Tim Meadows, who played Malcolm in Grown Ups. Since his appearance in the movie, Meadows has appeared in both film and television. With movies, he had roles in Grown Ups 2, Trainwreck, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Hubie Halloween and a couple of other independent movies. 

In television, he had many recurring roles including The Colbert Report, Suburgatory, Bob’s Burgers, The Goldbergs, No Activity and more. He’s also had lead roles in shows such as Son of Zorn, Marry Me and Schooled (which was a spinoff of The Goldbergs). Coming up, he’s going to appear in a new film titled Saurus City as a voice actor, so keep an eye out for him. 

With so many talented actors, it’s no wonder they went on to succeed so well. I for one can’t wait for Home Team to come out as part of the 2022 movies so I can see a lot of them together again. Or watch any of their awesome movies or shows.  

Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of NCIS Season 18, called "True Believer."

News broke well before Season 18 premiered on CBS that NCIS would be saying goodbye to Maria Bello as Jack Sloane, but the question was of how the show would write her off. NCIS may not kill off every character that leaves, but even those who survive don't always leave the door wide open behind them. Jack and Gibbs headed to Afghanistan in "True Believer" for an incredibly dangerous mission to rescue a group of kidnapped schoolgirls, and the episode ended with Jack not coming back to the U.S. with Gibbs. So, what happened, and can she come back?

Understandably given her history, Jack was immediately invested in finding the kidnapped girls, even more so when she realized that a woman who had helped her during her time as a POW in Afghanistan was involved. The reveal that the girls were going to be sold to prevent them from going to school just raised the stakes. The good news is that Jack and Gibbs solved the case, rescued the girls, and were cleared to go home; the bad news for Gibbs was that Jack decided to stay in Afghanistan to help, and had never intended to move to a peaceful life in Costa Rica after all.

Jack explained her decision to stay in Afghanistan in an emotional speech to Gibbs, saying:

On the one hand, Jack staying in Afghanistan means that she's not exactly local to the NCIS team to drop by and see on a whim, and she left her fish with Torres for a reason. Jack isn't coming back for the foreseeable future, and Maria Bello is going to be busy. On the other hand, NCIS didn't kill Jack off, and the door is definitely open for her to return.

At the very least, maybe NCIS could show some phone call scenes between Jack and the agents she left behind in Washington D.C. Gibbs also cut off her suggestion that he visit her with a big kiss, but I think the invitation still stands! Maria Bello hasn't said anything bad about her time on the show, and evidently left due to work that is taking her elsewhere, not due to any bad blood.

That's not to say that NCIS brings back all the major characters that leave. While Abby is unlikely to ever return based on comments from actress Pauley Perrette, there are others who left alive and well without returning. Still, I think NCIS left more than one way for Jack to return, even if only for a guest appearance.

See how NCIS continues without Maria Bello as Jack with the next new episode on Tuesday, March 9 on CBS. The future of NCIS itself isn't certain, and might depend entirely on actor Mark Harmon. The NCIS franchise is also losing one of its entries, with NCIS: New Orleans coming to an end in May.

NCIS is no stranger to losing some of its big stars over the years, from Michael Weatherly to Cote de Pablo to Pauley Perrette's somewhat controversial exit. Similarly, the CBS drama is no stranger to giving Mark Harmon's oft-divorced Leroy Gibbs relationship woes. Both of those elements come into play, in a manner of speaking, with the eighth episode of NCIS' 18th season, which is Maria Bello's final installment as special agent and psychologist Jackie Sloane. Though the two characters haven't officially become an item, Bello reflected on Sloane and Gibbs' "great love" as her exit draws near.

While NCIS fans might have expected Jackie Sloane's final days with the team to be handled in a smaller and personal way, the episode "True Believer" will actually be sending her back to Afghanistan after her name is discovered near an abandoned bus where its driver was murdered. Gibbs goes with her, of course, as they attempt to locate a group of girls from the bus who were taken captive. Considering Sloane's P.O.W. past, this trip likely won't be a very pleasant and relaxing one, and though Maria Bello told TV Insider that her character and Gibbs very much want to handle the mission together, it doesn't sound like the episode will give the pair much time to address their more personal feelings.

That said, Maria Bello deserves some credit for keeping hope alive, saying this about Sloane and Gibbs' undefined relationship:

There's a lot to chew on there, if you're into such speculation. Maria Bello first reaffirms the obvious by pointing out that Sloane and Gibbs mesh well together both on the job site and elsewhere. Trust is obviously key in their line of work, and there's also a clear line of communication between them, even if they haven't been overtly open about their shared feelings in front of viewers.

But it's Maria Bello's following comments that should really have fans' antennae standing tall. Amusingly enough, she mentioned sex before she mentioned romance, though that's probably more of a reflection of where the fanbase's interests lie. She then teased the idea that fans could legitimately come away from her final episode without actually getting any big resolutions with Gibbs and Sloane, which just seems cruel! Especially if Mark Harmon does indeed intend on slowly exiting the show once his contract expires this year.

However, I think that comment was just for show, and that the episode will deliver something more concrete in terms of the "continuation of that great love." How weird would it be if Gibbs proposed, thus giving the NCIS franchise two big weddings on the way?

Following its temporary hiatus through most of February, NCIS returns to CBS for Maria Bello's final ep on Tuesday, March 2, at 8:00 p.m. ET, and will hopefully air for quite a few weeks after that without further airing delays. And before saying goodbye to Jackie Sloane, be sure to say hello to star Wilmer Valderrama's new baby girl.

NCIS wrapped its emotional latest episode by not only revealing a devastating loss for Palmer, but also setting up the exit of Maria Bello's Jack Sloane. Bello's departure was announced before Season 18 even premiered in the fall, but the end of her time on NCIS is very much nigh. That said, fans have a wait ahead of them before finding out how NCIS says goodbye to Jack despite. The long-running CBS series is heading into another break, but at least we know when it will be back.

The next new episode of NCIS will air on Tuesday, March 2 in its usual 8 p.m. ET time slot on CBS. Called "True Believer," the March 2 premiere date means that fans will have to go weeks without the payoff on Jack telling Gibbs that she's ready to leave NCIS. According to the episode description for "True Believer" after the Season 18 break for the rest of February, however, Jack's departure might not be as simple as giving her notice and heading off to Costa Rica to open a bar.

"True Believer" will see Jack's name discovered at the site of an abandoned bus with a dead driver... in Afghanistan. Gibbs will join her on a trip to find a group of girls who had been kidnapped from the bus. On the home front for NCIS, McGee (clearly recovered from his ordeal earlier this year) along with Bishop and Torres will track a hacker who emailed information to the Taliban that is compromising.

Jack and Gibbs traveling to Afghanistan because her name was discovered somewhere with a dead body and a group of kidnapped girls doesn't really bode well for what seems to be Jack's final case with NCIS. The episode description doesn't actually confirm that this is Maria Bello's farewell episode, but the actress was scheduled to appear in eight episodes of NCIS Season 18, and "True Believer" will be the season's eighth, and it already sounds like the most Jack-centric episode of the season.

Throw in the setup in the previous episode before the break, and I think it's safe to say that fans should prepare to say farewell to Maria Bello's character. That's not to say that it will be goodbye forever, since NCIS co-showrunner Frank Cardea previously promised an exit for Jack that will be worthy of what she deserves after all the years since Season 15. If you ask me, that doesn't sound like the message of a showrunner who intends to kill a character off!

Then again, NCIS has proven that even seemingly being killed off doesn't mean a character is gone for good, so there are reasons to be optimistic about Jack's future, even if she's not going to be around anymore. I'm just hoping that whatever happens in this case allows her to leave NCIS without being forced out or in trouble because of her name involved in what happened. At the very least, fans have plenty to speculate about over the weeks of the latest break between NCIS episodes.

See what happens for Jack's final episode when "True Believer" marks NCIS' return to CBS on Tuesday, March 2 at 8 p.m. ET. For more of what's on the way as spring gets closer and the weather (hopefully) warms, check out our 2021 premiere schedule. This season of NCIS will be unusually short, and actually half over by the end of "True Believer," so don't miss an episode. As for whether Jack and Gibbs will get at least one big romantic moment before she's gone, find out on March 2!

NCIS is still a dominant force in primetime with its return to CBS for Season 18, but the show is losing a member of the team before the end of the shortened season. Maria Bello is departing NCIS after just three seasons on the hit drama. That said, Bello appeared in the Season 18 premiere, and Jack hasn't bowed out of the action just yet. Season 18 got off to a bizarre start and might only get weirder until it catches up with the present, and what that means for Jack remains to be seen.

For now, let's dive into why NCIS is losing Maria Bello's Jack at all and what it means moving forward.

Why Is Maria Bello Leaving NCIS?

Maria Bello's departure is coming with the completion of her original contract with NCIS, which was for three years that would have encompassed Seasons 15-17. Season 17 of course came to a premature end, cutting NCIS off ahead of its milestone 400th episode and definitely not giving Jack any kind of sendoff. Newsweek reports that Bello is also in preproduction on The Woman King, a film that will be Bello's first as a movie writer and producer, so it's possible that Bello intends to pursue new projects after ending her time on NCIS.

When Is Maria Bello Leaving NCIS?

Maria Bello is slated to appear in eight episodes of NCIS Season 18 so that Jack will get a proper sendoff. Jack appeared in the Season 18 premiere and has a part to play in the 400th episode, which leaves six more episodes. With NCIS' reduced episode count for Season 18, Bello will actually be featured in half of the season. That said, it's not clear if Bello's eight episodes will be consecutive, or spread throughout the season. Her departure doesn't bode well for that potential romance with Gibbs, but at least her time isn't done yet.

What Is Maria Bello Doing Next?

Although Maria Bello hasn't announced her next acting role following the end of her time as Jack on NCIS, her career is taking her in some new directions moving forward. The Woman King will mark her debut as feature film writer and producer, and the project (originally slated to star Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong'o) was announced back in early 2018 before landing an exciting director back in July. The project is seemingly moving forward, and may require more of Bello's attention than she could give as a regular on one of broadcast television's biggest shows.

For now, NCIS fans can look forward to six more appearances from Maria Bello as Jack following the 400th episode on November 24. The NCIS team intends to give her a "worthy" ending, but viewers won't find out what that is until 2021. For now, new episodes of NCIS air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. For more of what's on the way in the new year, be sure to check out our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule.

NCIS was still going strong at the end of its shortened seventeenth season, with several long-running cast members still in the spotlight. Now, however, one series regular is slated to depart the hit CBS series in the upcoming Season 18. Maria Bello, who joined NCIS back in Season 15, is leaving NCIS (and Gibbs) behind when the show returns from hiatus. Here's what's happening.

Maria Bello's departure comes at the close of a three-year contract that originally brought her into the fold in early Sesason 15, but this won't be a case of a character simply disappearing over hiatus. Deadline reports that Bello will appear as Jack Sloane in eight episodes of Season 18, which is currently intended for a fall premiere. These final episodes should wrap up Jack's story.

Well, any fans who were holding out hope for a lasting love connection between Gibbs and Jack got some very bad news here! Jack's departure should be significant, despite the fact that Maria Bello hasn't been on board NCIS as long as some of the others regular. Jack has served as operational psychologist as well as agent during her time with the Washington D.C. division of NCIS, and Gibbs has benefited from her guidance... whenever his arm could be twisted into listening to her.

A big question now is how NCIS intends to write her out and if the show had plans to say goodbye to Jack back when Season 17 was still happening. Like many other shows, NCIS had to wrap early in the 2019-2020 TV season, ending short of its milestone 300th episode, so it's possible that there was an arc for Jack that never made it to the airwaves.

That said, NCIS ended on Episode 20 of an ordered 24, and Maria Bello will be back for eight episodes, and it's entirely possible that the NCIS team didn't know that Bello would be leaving back when Season 17 was still in production. From a story standpoint, perhaps it's for the best that the writers have the time to write her exit without undoing anything they might have done for Jack in the final episodes of Season 17.

Could Jack's daughter have a part to play in how NCIS writes Maria Bello's departure? An eight-episode run would be enough time to bring her back, and craft a story that might require Jack to leave NCIS to help her daughter. At the very least, my money is on Jack surviving the end of her time on NCIS.

An eight-episode build to her death might be underwhelming, and why not leave the door open to Maria Bello potentially reprising her role someday? Even if stars like Michael Weatherly and Pauley Perrette haven't returned yet (and Perrette almost certainly never will), the return of Cote de Pablo's Ziva David proves to me that the show can pull off temporary arcs with departed actors and characters.

For the time being, we can only speculate about what will happen with Jack in Season 18. If you want to relive Maria Bello's journey on NCIS as Jack, you can find Season 15 streaming on Netflix, as well as every season so far streaming on CBS All Access. If you need a break from all things NCIS, our 2020 summer TV premiere schedule has some new options for you.

CBS has a good thing going with NCIS, which is set to enter its fifteenth season in the fall. We learned earlier this summer that one of the stars of Season 14 would not be returning for the next batch of episodes, and we now know that there won't just be a hole in the cast. A brand new lead is joining the series, and she won't exactly make life at NCIS easier for Gibbs. Maria Bello of Touch and Goliath has joined the NCIS team for Season 15.

Maria Bello will play an NCIS agent who has developed the reputation as the premiere forensic psychologist of the agency. She's an army veteran, having served two tours in Afghanistan as a second lieutenant. She'll set herself apart from the other NCIS agents due to her ability to challenge and even second-guess Gibbs, which will naturally lead to some conflict between the two. They will also respect each other, but it seems that the respect won't come easily. That said, she has a mischievous streak that lends to a sharp sense of humor, and she'll be an asset to the team.

We don't yet know the name of Maria Bello's character, but we'll see plenty of her in Season 15. Bello has signed on as a series regular. The character doesn't sound like she'll be a simple replacement for Jennifer Esposito's Agent Alex Quinn, so it should be interesting to see how she fits into the team dynamic in the new season. NCIS has gone through some significant casting changes over the past few years, starting with Michael Weatherly's momentous decision to depart.

Of course, there's a lot about the NCIS team that's currently unknown. The Season 14 finale ended with the lives of a couple of major characters in jeopardy; while it was never especially likely that NCIS would kill off Gibbs and/or McGee in a season premiere, fans have still had to wonder if a change to the status quo was in the works. There were hints earlier in Season 14 that Gibbs could be earning a big promotion, which would definitely make any second-guessing from a new character rather contentious.

The NCIS gig won't be the first time that Maria Bello has landed on a law enforcement TV show. She had a memorable role on Law & Order: SVU back in 2010, and she played a detective on Prime Suspect from 2011-2012. Touch took her in a different direction in 2012-2013. She recently starred in the first season of Amazon's legal drama Goliath, which has been renewed for a second season. We'll have to wait and see if Bello's role on NCIS will impact Season 2 of Goliath in any way.

Season 15 of NCIS will premiere on Tuesday, September 26 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Check out our summer TV schedule for what you can watch to pass the time while we wait for fall TV premiere season.

The fear of the dark is a common fear that's woven throughout humanity's survival strategies, as well as its popular culture. So, obviously, the premise behind Lights Out is one that looks pretty damned frightening, and this latest trailer certainly backs that up. Prepare to keep the lights on tonight, as you can watch the trailer below.

The second trailer was released through Warner Bros earlier today, and there's a fair amount of new footage included in our new look at the James Wan produced film. Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) and her younger brother have always had issues with the dark, and the terrors they thought it may hold. As it turns out, those fears weren't as unfounded as they were lead to believe, especially considering their mother, Sophie (Maria Bello) happens to have a special friend in the dark. A friend by the name of Diana that has no intention of leaving, and has Sophie's full co-operation. Whenever the lights go out, Diana is waiting for her prey.

Lights Out previously existed as a short film created and directed by David F. Sandberg, the man who is also directing the feature film version for Warner Bros / New Line. While this is far from the first time a film has found itself originating out of a successful short film on the internet, this is one of those cases where the expansion looks like it can actually work. Though you're free to debate us on that point, as we've included the original short below. While the concept of Lights Out has evolved from what you'll see in the short below, the basic concept is still pretty freaky.

In a summer that's already brought us The Conjuring 2, horror fans won't go hungry if Lights Out turns out to be more of a dud than we've been lead to believe. However, James Wan's stamp of approval does still count for something, and with the short actually delivering some powerful scares without resorting to cheap tricks, the odds are we've got some strong scares coming our way. Of course, the PG-13 rating could prove us wrong, but with the dark / altered lighting of most of the attack scenes in the film, they could get away with more than the average movie-goer would assume.

Lights Out will try to scare up an audience on July 22nd.

With all of the features and TV series being picked out of Stephen King’s mountainous bibliography, one could easily forget how he used to be the king of the miniseries and TV movie. (Pun intended.) Lifetime, a network slowly building its “we don’t just show women getting beaten up” credentials, has somewhat antithetically delivered the epitome of Woman in Distress movies with Big Driver, an adaptation of King’s Full Dark No Stars novella. But this isn’t some campy schlock with some 1980s sitcom actress phoning it in; this is full metal Maria Bello delivering one of the most uncomfortably sincere performances of her career.

Full Dark No Stars is a very bleak and violent book, and Big Driver is the dark and dreary revenge tale in the bunch. Bello plays Tess, the bestselling author of a mystery novel series. She’s the kind of person who handles situations by thinking them aloud as if she’s writing the plot, and she’ll often visualize one of her main characters, Doreen (Olympia Dukakis), appearing places to give her advice. Tess has a book reading set up at a bookstore, where Ann Dowd’s Ramona is working.

On her way home, Tess uses a shortcut given to her at the reading and soon finds herself dealing with a nail in her tire. When a big burly man stops to help her, she is at first relieved. And then this man, played by Will Harris, turns an evil leaf and sexually abuses her repeatedly. To be clear, no rape scene in any movie is an objectively comfortable experience, but Big Driver stands atop a mountain of sadistic distress. This is the kind of scene that makes one wonder how comedic use of foul language is looked down upon on most TV networks, yet a ghastly full-on rape can happen, no problem.

That’s not a knock against either writer Richard Christian Matheson or director Mikael Salomon. The attack, which ends with Tess being left for dead, needs to reach a maximum level of awfulness to drive the wounded author’s actions for the rest of the movie. She doesn’t want the world to know what happened, to have the incident to redefine who she is in the public eye. And so she looks internally for her answer, which is basically, “Don’t get caught.”

The quality of Stephen King adaptations, more than any other author’s, is astoundingly hard to predict, with some turning out as timeless as Stand by Me and The Shining, while others are just limp by-the-numbers flicks like Secret Window and Bag of Bones. Thankfully, Big Driver fits in the former camp, with Maria Bello bearing the brunt of this story on her bruised shoulders. Not a movie where you’re meant to keep guessing who the “killer” is, this is one where every road leads to palpable dread.

Because most of Big Driver feels genuinely terrifying for its main character, the movie itself is paced to keep audiences feeling equally lousy about everything. (But in the best possible way, I think.) I can’t fault it for many things, surprising considering it’s a Lifetime Original, but there is a tonal imbalance that feels off but admittedly just might add to the weirdness. Almost everything that occurs is extremely depressing in some way; whereas a dumb movie might bide its time by having Tess engage in needless conversations with characters who don’t matter, Big Driver readily slows things down so that audiences can watch Tess break down after seeing herself in a mirror for the first time after her attack. After already having witnessed the rape, we hear her confess all of the details to a voicemail recording, and then we get to hear that message played out almost in its entirety later in the movie. Nearly every scene is like that, a constant reminder of the angsty despair.

Still, there are moments of unexpected levity, such as Tess’ conversations with Tom, her GPS. The first time Tom says something un-GPS-ish, it’s almost frightening, but we later understand that this, like Doreen, is another way for Tess to mentally organize herself. It’s a nice non-clumsy way of dishing out exposition and narrative without just making Tess talking to herself all the time. Plus, Dukakis is a vicious old queen.

King’s longest works will often make for the most distracted adaptations, but the tightness of Big Driver is perfect for Lifetime. It’s a powerful film – not because its story of a vengeful female will shine a light on social injustices, but simply because it grips viewers and doesn’t let go until the credits are rolling. Maria Bello is a pain-stricken wonder.

Rating:

Big Driver debuts on Lifetime on Saturday, October 18.

Horror auteur James Wan will bring terror to theaters twice this summer. The true story-based The Conjuring will open on July 19th, followed by the haunted house flick Insidious Chapter 2 on August 30th. Though the cameras have only just started to roll on the latter, Wan is already casting for his a new venture, a thriller that IMDb has listed as House of Horror (though that could be a tentative title).

Variety reports Wan came up with the premise and will produce the film penned by Max La Bella; Will Canon, helmer of the 2010 crime-thriller Brotherhood, is set to direct. The Dimension Films production will star Maria Bello and Frank Grillo as a psychologist and a policeman, respectively, who team up to interrogate the sole survivor of a ghost-hunting expedition that ended with five people dead.

Bello has appeared in a wide range of films, from the dark comedy Thank You For Smoking to the daring drama A History of Violence, and the spirited rom-com The Jane Austen Book Club. However, the James Wan-produced horror film will mark only her third role in the genre, following Secret Window and the lesser-known The Dark. For his part, Grillo, who recently appeared in the Liam Neeson vehicle The Grey and alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena in End of Watch, has appeared in three horror movies to date: the Myspace-centered iMurders, the 2010 Mother's Day remake, and the Wes Craven pic My Soul to Take.

Between his experience in the genre, and Bello's ability to tackle any genre thrown her way, this seems a great cast so far. However, as this is his first produced screenplay, La Bella is a wild card. But it speaks well of his script that Cannon signed on, as Brotherhood won the audience award at 2010's SXSW Film Festival. In short, this one could be uniquely terrifying.

At this time it's unclear when the film might go into production.

After a school shooting, like those at Virginia Tech or Columbine High School, it’s common place for some people to blame the killer’s parents for what has happened. Those in grief believe that there must have been something wrong with the killer or killers’ upbringing that led to them committing such a tragedy. These people, however, never seem to take into account what the parents are actually going through. What do you do after you find out the child you’ve raised from birth has become a monster? In Beautiful Boy that’s exactly what happens to Michael Sheen and Maria Bello.

With their film set to come out this Friday, the two stars were kind enough to sit down with reporters in a roundtable interview to discuss the making of the film and I was lucky enough to take part. Check out the interview below in which Sheen and Bello discuss not taking the work home with them, the pressure that comes with single-take scenes and the research that went into the parts.

You know, being a parent, that’s the baggage that I brought to watching this film and I can’t imagine what it’s like to put yourself in the skin of somebody going through what these parents are. I mean, talk about a parent’s worst nightmare only amplified. Do you draw on your own emotions or is that a dangerous thing to do in this case when you’re treading into territory that every parent fears?

MICHAEL: That’s a good question, yeah. It’s a good question because it goes to the kind of heart of a fundamental problem for actors and acting is that if you draw on your own experiences, certainly when it comes to being a parent, if you get, if you kind of go, “Right, in this scene I’m gonna deal with my child dying or my child doing this or that or whatever,” and you go, “Well I have a child and I have to imagine my child doing that,” the danger is that you get to the end of the day and that’s not working anymore. I’m thinking about the death of my own child and that’s not really doing it because I’ve gotten too used to thinking about it. There’s a cost to that as a person, to go, I’ve been imagining the death of my own child, and that’s not really where you want to go into. At the same time, you’ve got to kind of, you’ve got to deal with it because otherwise it’s just acting, and then it’s sort of meaningless. So it’s a tricky area that I think it factors into. We talked about that when we were doing it.

MARIA: Yeah I know, you know, when I had my son it was the worst day and the best day of my life because I realized I will never love someone so much but I’ll never be able to keep them from the lessons he’s meant to learn in his lifetime, right? So I agree with Michael, I couldn’t put myself in that situation about my son dying, it’s just too much to bare for any parent to hold onto that for weeks at the time, so I was drawing on other stuff, really. And mostly I think you and I work in a similar way where we knew our characters and trusted each other enough to work off of each other, to find that sort of emotion together.

MICHAEL: Yeah, yeah. Rather than trying to drag it out on your own. Which can have an, if you’re doing something where there’s a lot of scenes between just two actors and if for whatever reason it’s not really happening or you’re not really connecting that well, then you do have to kind of, I found you do have to draw on stuff yourself and kind of make it happen for yourself. But in the case of something where the two actors really do connect with each other and trust each other, then I think you rely on a kind of, I think our bodies have memories without us having to consciously thing about it so rather than think hard about my daughter dying, or whatever, you just let that go and trust that that’s, that you have all the emotions you need in there, and by losing yourself in the scene that stuff kicks in without you having to spend the day thinking about horrific things happening to your child.

MARIA: And I think that has a lot to do with script and how well it’s written and how much it captures the emotion and takes you organically into those feelings.

MICHAEL: And how much, I guess, the director allows you to do that. That’s why if you’ve got a director who keeps jumping in and going, “Uh, could you not do that? Could you do this?” it stops that process from happening. And on this it felt like we were given just the right amount of freedom and the right amount of guidance.

MARIA: Yeah, he really trusted us to find it.

Maria, I was going to ask you, when you first got this, what was one of the elements that stuck out for you? I loved your performance in this.

MARIA: Thank you very much. You know I got this script probably a year before we made the movie and just got a gut feeling, and it was so well written that I wanted and needed to do that to explore that. I like the levels of grief, which I studied a bit before we did the movie. Usually a parent who loses a child goes through those levels of grief over years. We had to smash it into a week or two weeks of their lives and to make sure we sort of weren’t at the same level in every single scene. Usually a parent would just be in shock or grief for those two weeks, but I had to make it a little bit more interesting.

Did you talk to any parents that maybe were connected to maybe like Columbine or some other major, Virginia Tech or something?

MICHAEL: Well I think, honestly this film is about the most specific set of parents, it’s the parents of the person who perpetrates it. So even though any parents who are going through dealing with the loss of a child, there are certain things that are obviously the same about that experience, the parents of the child who does it, I think there are a lot of big differences as well. I know personally I felt very uncomfortable about the idea of trying to get in touch with the parents of someone who got through a similar experience. I didn’t really feel, I sort of asked myself, what do I stand to gain? Is that worse? What is there to be possibly lost? And ultimately I felt like our characters have no idea what they’re supposed to feel and no idea what the rules are and that’s part of their difficulty. There is no material about it out there really, there’s no real films made about it. Then part of that feeling of not quite knowing what the rules are, I thought would be quite useful, personally, rather than sort of talking to someone and “Now I know what happens.” So that feeling of being a bit not sure.

MARIA: You understand it more organically. It’s not like something you study and do research on, I think. But synchronicity, bizarrely, a week before we started shooting, Susan Klebold came out with her first interview ever in O Magazine, and it was funny because of what she said about blaming herself and not knowing and the process she went through, and it was, I found I really interesting that that was reflected in our script.

Can you talk about the way it was shot, I mean the longer scenes and the way the camera moved like a docu-drama? And did that help you? And did you carry this home every night or were you able to drop it on the set? Because it’s really heavy.

MICHAEL: Well I thought that the second part first. In a way you have to do all the work beforehand. In a way it doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, I don’t know if you agree with this, but no matter what the subject matter is, when you come to actually act it’s a game. It may be a very serious game, but it’s still a game, and if you lose that sense of play then I think the work suffers. The danger can be, because it’s very heavy subject matter, then you sort of feel like you have to come at it in a very heavy way and it just dies somehow. It’s just not quite right. It doesn’t live. In order for it to be alive when you’re doing it, you have to approach it as play, and so that’s nice about being in the right place, the right state of mind. I found that trying to keep, just stay present and open in between takes and we would chat, and I think we would, we never lost sight of what it was we were trying to do and the seriousness of what we were trying to do. It felt like, I think it can often be the way when you speak to actors, the biggest, heaviest things they work on are actually sometimes the most enjoyable experiences and I certainly felt that on this.

MARIA: There was a real sense of fun and play between us and a real curiosity about the work.

MICHAEL: Yeah, and exhilaration. It’s not often you kind of are in a situation where you go, I totally trust this person, I totally feel at ease with this person, I feel at ease in this situation, and there’s no other agenda or ego. All we’re doing is both wanting, or not just both, everyone, wanting to do the best we can on this, and it matters to us and we care about it, and nothing else is getting in the way. And that’s quite exhilarating and there’s a joy to that. That’s really important. You don’t want to sort of mess that up by going, “But I mustn’t enjoy this too much because it’s very heavy and serious.”

MARIA: And how fun was it, the hotel room scene? I mean that was really something. There’s only one cutaway. We did it four or five times before we were about to blow our brains out, but it was so fun it was like doing a play. It was eight minutes long and was really technical with the camera, you know we had to figure out movements and figured out how to film all of that. But boy that was an exhilarating day, that scene.

MICHAEL: Yeah, exactly. The first part of the question, being the camera, that scene obviously was one long take and so it was a dance, really, between Maria and myself and the camera operator. He’s the other character in the scene. There are mirrors up and there’s a TV and you don’t want to catch reflections, and so in a way we had to work out, just very loosely where positions might be. But then you sort of work around it. I remember when we were shooting, not just that scene, but the whole thing to begin with, I’d be like, because we didn’t work out set positions for the camera, I was doing marvelous work then and didn’t know if the camera was on me. Because we’d be doing it and it would be very docu-style and you wouldn’t know when the camera was on you, but what was wonderful about that as well was you just, in a way it was more like doing a play then because you’d just have to inhabit everything all the time and you don’t go, “Oh this is my bit now. I have to pop more into this now because this is my bit.” You just have to do the whole thing. It certainly gives it a freshness and a spontaneity and a life that you wouldn’t normally have, but it took a little while for me to get used that, Maria being the professional, she had no problem with that at all.

I’ve heard talk about the pressure you can feel as you get toward the end of the scene when you realize everything’s been going right, “If I’m the one who blows the line we have to...” Was there some of that going on where you feel like, this scene is happening right and now it’s suddenly, as you’re getting to the end of it, there’s a little pressure to say, “We better keep going because it’s happening.”

MARIA: I think that always happens, for me anyway, when I’m acting and creating with a group of people, you know, you have that moment where you’re like, “I forgot my line.” I’m more forgiving of myself now, as I get older I don’t apologize for it anymore, which I used to do, like, “Oh, sorry, I forgot my line.” I’m just like, “Okay, gotta go back and start again.”

MICHAEL: And also, there’s still moments where you get something really interesting, like you get to the moment where you go, “Oh I can’t remember what I’m saying,” or you say the wrong thing or whatever, and those, when people talk about happy accidents, that’s when they are. Now you can choose to do one of two things. When you get to that moment, you’re in it, and it’s all going well, and then suddenly, something goes wrong.

You can go, and I think Maria’s talking about when we were younger, you kind of go, “Oh! I’m sorry! I messed up. Sorry! Sorry everyone, sorry.” Or, now I think we probably have gotten to the point where we go, “Ah, this is good. What’s gonna happen now?” and how do we, rather than cutting out of it and stopping it, cause you actually, what happens is it’s a little herald, a little messenger saying, “You’re in an interesting area here.” And I think we tend to go, “Oh, I feel really vulnerable, stop stop stop.” And then when you get a bit braver I think, a bit more experienced, you go, “Oh I’m feeling really vulnerable, oh, what’s, let’s go with it. This is another way to write and let’s see what happens with it.” And then you get those potentially really great accidents that happen with it.

MARIA: I’ve often said to directors, “Please don’t stop the scene.” Right? Let us go and don’t call cut every time we forget a line or something. You know, what’s the line, give me the line, and just continue to force through it, because it puts you, in a way, more in the moment, more in the truth.

MICHAEL: Exactly, exactly.

The film opens up and basically you’re in a strange couple, and suddenly not only does your son die but the world is against you. What did you think about that aspect of the film?

MICHAEL: Well I thought it was really interesting that the film doesn’t begin with a couple who are, on the surface, happy and everything’s going well, and then tragedy strikes, and then it all goes. I thought it was really interesting choice to start the film with a couple who’ve sort of come to the end of the road, they think, and then the story, I guess for me the story was much much more about, is it possible for two people to kind of find each other again? And the journey that they go on to do that in this is a very extreme journey and they go into some very dark places, but ultimately that’s why I felt like it was a very hopeful, positive story, because it’s about, this is an extreme act of tragedy that happens, but stuff happens all the time that’s difficult and painful and puts a lot of pressure on a couple. Ultimately it’s about whether you can find each other again. So I thought that was really, a really interesting start for it, and that they’re forced to be together. When one thing they want to do at the beginning of the film is sort of get away from each other, they’re forced to be together and that forces certain things to happen that maybe couldn’t happen in the relationship beforehand.

MARIA: It seems to me that from what people say, friends say about being in long term relationships, and what you read, I don’t do those so I’ve never had one so I wouldn’t know, but people say that you start lying, in a way, to yourself and each other, to make each other feel safe in some way, to show up the way the person things you should show up and this sort of dishonesty with yourself and the other person I think breeds a resemblance and a contempt which you see in these two people. They become so disparate and can’t be vulnerable with each other and really share their truth, and this tragedy blows that up and makes them confront each other.

Now one thing that really fuels what’s going on around you, the people around you, is the suicide manifesto that the two of you, on camera you never see that actual video. Was a complete video done with Kyle’s character, Sammy, giving his explanation, and did you get to see it if it was done? And it was just left out of the film?

MICHAEL: I didn’t see it if it was done.

MARIA: I didn’t see it either.

MICHAEL: I’m not sure, I think he did do, I’m fairly certain he did a whole thing. I only want to see what my character sees, really and so I’m not sure if we were given the opportunity, I’m pretty sure he did do one though.

The emotion of grief is not something that we don’t often see played out in such a naturalistic way. I mean, was he falling in love or falling out of love, or different family relationships, but dealing with grief is something that is, I think it’s kind of rare for an actor to get that opportunity. Is that something that you look at and say, because everyone is going to go through this in one way or another, it’s part of life, is it more important to get that reel, rather than falling in love, for instance.

MICHAEL: Well it’s interesting that we see death constantly on film. Like, constantly. Next time you watch a film, have a look, in the back of your mind spend a day going, “Let me see how many times I see people die today.” Because you will see hundreds upon hundreds of people dying. And then how much you actually see the grief process and the consequences and ramifications of death being played out in front of you, and it’s not much. There’s something wrong there, and for a culture that has such a problem with death, we seem to deal with it in a quite bizarre way, where we see people being shot and killed and blown up. And we find it funny and we find in sexy and we find it all those sort of things, but the reality of it is that every day people are dying, people are really sad, and they grieve and they go through a really difficult process.

So I think as uncomfortable as it is and as uncommercial as it may be, or whatever, that as a society I think it’s really important that we look at that and we look at the reality of it given that we surround ourselves with the fantasy of it constantly. We live in a bubble of the fantasy of death, but the reality of it, and it’s something that we obviously all face, and have to deal with at some point. It’s sort of scary, I think to, in a way this is an extreme version of what happens to everybody when they actually experience death in some way where you suddenly feel alone, you suddenly feel like “There are still people walking around in the street outside, I’m going through the worst experience of my life, and the world is carrying on.” And the awfulness of that and the feeling of, “I don’t know what to do, where’s the rule book for how you deal with this sort of stuff?” I mean not everybody has to painfully deal with that child having done something that they’ve done, but everyone has to go through that and that’s frightening. So I think it’s really important that we look at this kind of stuff.

MARIA: I do too.

Tim Griffin is everywhere. You’ve likely seen him in films like Leatherheads and Cloverfield as well as on TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy and 24. Not only is Griffin adding to his resume with films like Super 8, The Collection, A Better Life and more, but with a new TV show as well, an American remake of the British series, Prime Suspect.

The original police procedural drama kicked off in the early 90s with Helen Mirren starring as Jane Tennison, an all-business detective working at the Metropolitan Police Service, also known as Scotland Yard. This time around, Mario Bello assumes the lead role renamed Jane Timoney. Griffin stars as Detective Augie Blando who is “a little bit of the comic relief.” Augie is a member of a collection of detectives called “The Beef Trust.” Griffin explained, “We’re just sort of like the guys that all the cases go to, we do things our way … and Maria comes in and she’s like one of these – she’s this brilliant detective, but she comes out of nowhere and suddenly she’s in our department and it’s a real battle of the sexes at first.”

At the moment, the group is just working on the pilot, but Griffin is confident in Prime Suspect’s chances. “You never know what’s going to happen. This definitely has the heavy hitters behind it, so you hope for the best.” He assures us, “The way you see [the pilot] end, you’d want to see more of it.” Well, if we take Griffin’s word for it, NBC, who owns the rights to the piece, could be queuing up the project for a future lineup. In terms of all the resources and talent behind this one, I’d bet on it.

Check out everything Griffin had to say about working on Prime Suspect thus far in the video interview below.

Before she was Oscar-nominated for The Queen or dazzling everyone with her machine gun skills in Red, Helen Mirren was garnering heaps of awards and attention over in the U.K. for her role on Prime Suspect, a long-running crime drama in which she played the hard-living Detective Inspector Jane Tennison. The series started in the early 90s and picked back up for two final installments in 2006, airing as part of Masterpiece Theater in the United States but never getting quite the same following-- American viewers know it better through all the female-led procedurals that have been inspired by it, including The Closer and Saving Grace.

But now, after years in development, the inevitable American remake of Prime Suspect has finally found an actress brave enough to step into Mirren's shoes. According to THR Maria Bellos is closing a deal to star in the show, which will air on NBC with Peter Berg acting as executive producer and Alexandra Cunningham, a Desperate Housewives veteran, ready to serve as showrunner if Prime Suspect gets picked up.

Bello, who at 44 is almost exactly the same age Mirren was when Prime Suspect first started in 1991, has been almost exclusively a film actress, showing up recently in The Company Men, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and A History of Violence. She did do a two-episode stint on Law & Order: SVU recently though, so clearly she's not opposed to a good procedural. Bello is taking the route that many, many actresses have taken as they get further along in the careers, opting for a steady gig on TV rather than endless film auditions-- it's worked out well for Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close and Holly Hunter, just to name a few. But the Prime Suspect remake is more high-profile than any of the shows those women have led on basic cable; for Bello, the pressure is most certainly on. There's no doubt she has the talent to make it work, but both she and Berg have a pretty huge legacy to live up to should Prime Suspect make it, as planned, to the NBC fall schedule.

In the real world when you and your waify bisexual boyfriend drive down the road listening to indie-rock and stop to pick up a mysterious hitchhiker, you’re usually asking to be robbed, raped, beaten, and left for dead in a ditch. In the world of movies though, like a song and dance routine in a lumberjack musical, an indie film is sure to break out.

Some time in between becoming the most famous person ever to star in only one movie anyone has seen and making the next in her Twilight series, Kristen Stewart found time to become involved in just such an indie movie. It’s called The Yellow Handkerchief and picking up a hitchhiker is exactly what she does. The movie’s first trailer is here and it’s about what you’d expect. William Hurt and Maria Bello star along with Stewart and her scarecrow boy toy. Check out the first trailer and poster for The Yellow Handkerchief below:

So what’s it about? Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Expect The Yellow Handkerchief in theaters February 12, 2010.

The first trailer for The Private Lives of Pippa Lee has arrived over in the UK. If you’re looking for a reason to care, then take a look at the film’s amazing cast: Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves, Monica Bellucci, Maria Bello, Julianne Moore, and Winona Ryder all packed into one movie.

What’s it about? Robin Wright Penn plays a dutiful wife who follows her husband to a new life in a Connecticut retirement community. There she embarks on a bittersweet journey of self-discovery and meets Keanu Reeves playing… well it’s Keanu Reeves so whatever they call him it’ll probably just be Keanu Reeves. Here’s the really weird thing: Alan Arkin is her husband. That’s right, ancient Alan Arkin is playing Buttercup’s husband, even though he’s 32 years her senior.

Check out the film’s first trailer below and try not to drown in the melodrama. Special thanks to our friends at Filmstalker for the heads up.